Her Story
About Catherine
I’ve spent the last 15+ years building my career in financial services, though I didn’t start there intentionally. I worked my way through college bartending, which is where I learned how to build relationships, read people, and create opportunities, skills that ultimately opened the door to my first role in marketing.
I started as a graphic designer, moved into senior design manager, and now serve as Creative Director at Cornerstone Capital Bank, where I lead a full creative team and operate at the intersection of brand, marketing, and business strategy.
My focus today goes far beyond creative execution. I specialize in building the systems, processes, and cross-functional alignment needed to scale marketing at an enterprise level. I’m currently leading a full brand evolution to unify multiple business lines, banking, home lending, servicing, and insurance, into a single, cohesive brand experience.
While my foundation is in creative, my strength is in turning vision into execution, connecting teams, and building the infrastructure that allows both people and businesses to grow and scale.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Catherine
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my ability to build strong, genuine relationships and turn them into opportunities. I didn’t come from a traditional path or a place of advantage, so I learned early on how to connect with people, create value, and earn trust.
In this industry, relationships are everything, but what you do with them matters more. I’ve built my career by pairing those relationships with hard work, consistency, and a willingness to step into opportunities.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I’ve received is to say yes before you feel fully ready.
Some of the biggest opportunities in my career came from stepping into situations where I didn’t have everything figured out yet. I learned along the way, built confidence, and grew into roles I probably wouldn’t have pursued otherwise.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Learn how to take feedback without letting it shake your confidence. In creative and marketing, everything is subjective, which means you’ll hear “no” often. The difference is how you respond to it.
Use feedback to sharpen your thinking, not shrink your voice. And don’t wait until you feel fully ready to step into bigger opportunities. Most of the growth in my career came from saying yes before I had it all figured out.
Where you start doesn’t define where you end up. If you’re willing to put in the work, build relationships, and stay consistent, you can create your own path.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges is learning how to trust your own voice in a space where there are a lot of opinions. Especially in creative and marketing, everyone has input, and it can be easy to second guess yourself.
The opportunity is learning how to take that input without losing your perspective. The people who grow the most are the ones who can listen, adapt, and still stand confidently behind their decisions.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I care deeply about creating opportunities for people to grow and step into more than they thought possible. That comes from my own experience of having to figure things out on my own early in my career.
As a leader, I’m focused on building environments where people are supported, challenged, and given real opportunities to advance. I believe strong teams are built through trust, accountability, and clarity, not just creativity.
It’s important to me that the people I lead don’t just do great work, but that they grow, gain confidence, and leave with more than they came in with.
That same mindset carries into my personal life as a mom of four, where I’m constantly reinforcing discipline, resilience, and the belief that with the right support and work ethic, bigger goals are always within reach. Supporting my son as he pursues playing football at the D1 level has only deepened that perspective.
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